Top 5 Ports We Want To See On The Nintendo Switch

Nathan Mills

Top 5 Ports We Want For The Nintendo Switch

Since its fairly recent release back in 2017 the Switch has had some incredible ports offered like a sizable NES library, DOOM, Undertale, Minecraft, and more. But even with this generous offering there are still many titles that are being asked for. In this article we’ll discuss the titles that we would love to see ported to the Switch in the coming future. From legacy Nintendo games to modern AAA titles here’s our wishlist.

Old Pokémon Games

First up is a collection of games rather than one specific release. While the new main-line titles in the Pokémon series are coming to switch this year, I think it’s fair to say that quite a large group of people still have very fond feelings for the original games. In 2016, Pokémon Yellow, Red, and Blue were released on the 3DS family of systems to the surprise and joy of every Pokémon fan. There’s no clear data on just how long Nintendo had to spend porting these classics over to their 3DS systems but I’d imagine it wasn’t too intensive considering the simplicity of the original games. One of the simple aspects of these games is that they rely on only one screen as that was the only offering when they were first released. This meant that there were no special, second-screen game mechanics added when ported to the 3DS, meaning that a Switch port for these games should in theory be fairly straightforward. Out of all the Pokémon games I personally love the stories of the original three and would absolutely love to see them brought to the Switch. In addition to Red, Blue, and Yellow, though, I would also imagine that Pokémon Emerald would be received with open arms by Switch owners. As mentioned earlier, there’s really no way of knowing just how long ports like these would take for the Switch but it seems Nintendo definitely would have the capability. Moving forward with the main-line titles only being released on the Switch, we’ll have to just wait and see if we’ll get to play the classics on our TV’s too.

Super Mario 64

Bringing such a vast NES library to the Switch has shown that Nintendo is committed to keeping their classic library of games alive and available. Not only did they release an NES library that has ongoing updates, but they even created mini emulator systems of the NES, SNES, and Famicom with matching mini controllers. With this kind of effort being put into older Nintendo games it seems that they should be open to the idea of bigger, more widely known games being ported to the Switch as well. Super Mario 64 is arguably one of the best games ever made by Nintendo and was a big part of my childhood and countless others. While Super Mario 64 was an incredible feat of graphics in its day, it would likely be relatively easy to port over to a current console. Especially considering it was released on a home console just like the Switch. While Nintendo hasn’t made any announcements or even given any hints at a possible Super Mario 64 port, we can’t help but think that they’ve got something in the works to bring this cult-classic to the Switch someday.

Animal Crossing: GameCube

The GameCube brought in console exclusives that are extremely popular to this day such as Super Smash Bros. Melee, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Mario Kart: Double Dash, and of course, the first Animal Crossing. If you went searching you could still find a large number of streamers playing both Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart from the GameCube even today proving that they still have incredible fan-bases. Similarly, the support for the new Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been wildly positive. With the success of the original game and the massive amount of supporters for New Leaf and New Horizons, it seems like a no-brainer for Nintendo to bring over the original Animal Crossing to the Switch. As of right now there haven’t been any GameCube ports for the Switch just yet, but considering the far more weak nature of the GameCube one would imagine it wouldn’t be too much of a challenge. Unfortunately, as with the previously mentioned games, Nintendo hasn’t made any sort of comment or hint at whether or not a port of Animal Crossing for the GameCube will be coming to the Switch. With the new installment in the series on its way, though, if we do see this port it would likely not be in the near future, at least not in 2019.

Street Fighter V

In 2018 the Switch received the Street Fighter: 30th Anniversary Collection and sold many more copies than Capcom originally planned on. The game included 12 classic Street Fighter titles that are still a blast to play, even today. The ports, however, are older games that were likely much simpler than today’s AAA titles and certainly don’t run into any graphics issues with the Switch. Street Fighter V, on the other hand, might run into some slightly harder issues if it was to ever be ported for Nintendo Switch. While the game itself doesn’t appear to be much more graphically intense than many games the Switch is already running, Capcom may simply not have the manpower to bring it over. With its rocky release in 2016 it’s likely that Capcom wasn’t even in talks with Nintendo about putting the game on the upcoming console. Today, however, the game is quite polished and even includes an arcade mode. Will Street Fighter V be making its way over to the Switch then? Well, we certainly haven’t heard anything from Capcom yet, but we can certainly still hope.

Bioshock Infinite

The last title on our list is another game that needs no introduction as it has been known and loved by so many gamers since its release in 2013. Because it was released a while ago it would seem fair to assume that this game could run on the Switch without issue, although it would possibly have to run on lower settings with a lowered framerate. Both the story and gameplay of this release are absolutely incredible and with a score of 94 on metacritic it’s clear that many people would agree. While the game is old enough that Irrational Games is probably not spending too much time thinking about its future, bringing Bioshock over to the Switch would undoubtedly be a success. In the case of this particular game the ability to play on your TV clearly wouldn’t be too much of a big deal considering how long that has been available for this game with other consoles. Despite this, though, the ability to experience this title in handheld mode on the Switch would truly be unique. In all honesty, I think this fact alone with the amount of fans of this game would make it a winning move for its developer.

So then, there can’t really be too much of a conclusion in this list as of right now, but perhaps in the future we can look back at this article and smile knowing our dreams came true.

What games do you want to see ported over to the Nintendo Switch? Feel free to tell us in the comments below!

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Nathan Mills

A writer and wiki editor, he's been a fan of Nintendo and PC gaming since the days of the GameBoy Advance and Command and Conquer. Currently a junior at Liberty University in Virginia, he's studying journalism and hopes to work with online publications providing the public with interesting and timely news.